Hurricanes
Redux

This issue
of
In
the News covers SSEC news and events from September 2004.
Use images freely with credit to the Space Science and Engineering
Center, University of WisconsinMadison. Jennifer O’Leary
wrote all of Weather Research and most of Meetings. Either she or Terri Gregory
wrote all other pieces, unless otherwise noted.

In August, with
hurricanes churning across the Atlantic to Florida, the Tropical
Cyclones Web site logged 10 million hits.
For all
of September, more than 53 million hits were scored! And the tropical storms
discussions (a semiofficial news group for hurricane forecasters and researchers)
continues to show the National Hurricane Center’s and National Weather
Service’s
reliance on products developed by CIMSS, especially the Objective
Dvorak Technique.

Popular Research
Products—The popularity of Gary Wade’s
hurricane montages has led to development of a new automated product.
The Tropical Cyclone Research Team recently created a product that compiles
snapshot images of a storm to display its path in one image. Additionally,
these montages include a color-coded progression of the storm’s
intensity.

Hurricane Ivan after
Florida landfall, September 16, 2004. See the MODIS
Gallery for more
hurricane images.

For the near future, this is unfortunately the last MODIS imagery available
from SSEC’s Direct Broadcast Facility. The computer used to process
the data has met with an untimely accident. A replacement or fix is in
the works, perhaps by the time you read this.

Besides the many
media appearances noted in September
2004 In the
News, Chris Velden also spoke on Madison’s WIBA radio and
spoke with Canadian Broadcast Corporation reporters. UW–Madison’s
Why Files used CIMSS images in
a hurricane feature story and presented CIMSS hurricane
research and told how researchers handle
the data.
Every week, Why Files, a a World Wide Web magazine funded
by NSF and published by University Communications, covers a science
story inspired
by the headlines. On September 4, Alan Sealls, WKRG-TV’s
Chief Meteorologist, used McIDAS
developer
Rick Kohrs’s high resolution animation of Hurricane
Frances in their 5 p.m. newscast. WKRG-TV is the CBS affiliate
in Mobile. Sealls estimates that they had more than 50,000 viewers
during that broadcast.

The official
UW–Madison newspaper, Wisconsin
Week, featured
the movie of Hurricane Frances on September 8 as a new “satellite
animation tool.” London, England’s TV Channel 4 asked
to use the “rather
fabulous movie” of Hurricane Ivan on their 7 p.m. news on September
10.

In “Shelter
from the Storm,” the Economist magazine (September
18, 2004) examines the current state of hurricane forecasting. “… [S]ubstantial
improvements have been made over the past 30 years,” they say,
but note that predicting intensity is still “hardly better” than
in 1974. Knowing more about the eyewall, where winds are most intense,
would help. James Kossin, of SSEC’s CIMSS Tropical Cyclones group,
saw his predictions of vortices in the eye of Hurricane Isabel realized
in 2003. The behavior is important because it makes clear that the eye
is not symmetrical as many researchers had assumed. Jason Dunion, of
the National Hurricane
Center, works with CIMSS using satellite
data to study the Saharan air layer off the Sahara Desert that Atlantic
storms interact with. This “layer inhibits the intensification
of storms.” Other groups also study hurricane intensity—NOAA’s
Hurricane Research Division, Colorado State University’s CIRA,
the University of Miami and Ohio’s Kent State University.

Data and Imagery

As seen in the Spotlight on
the SSEC front page, MODIS true color imagery clearly shows the vivid
transition
to “Autumnal Fire” vegetation
colors in northern Wisconsin. Scott Bachmeier provides an animation
of 7 days during September and October. Thom Benson of WRCB TV’s
Channel 3 Storm Alert Team will show first and last images to his audience
in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He notes, “The gallery images are
awesome.”

Wisconsin, October
9, 2004 through MODIS imagery.

The UCAR
Quarterly newsletter uses SSEC’s global
montage in the background of a picture in an article about COMET,
the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology Education and
Training.

Engineering Feats

ICDS—The Wisconsin Engineer,
a magazine published by UW–Madison College of Engineering students,
features IceCube and AMANDA neutrino
telescopes
in the September
2004 issue. The article noted that a special hot water drill needed to
be made for the deep holes that will be drilled for IceCube. SSEC’s Ice Coring and Drilling Service provides
the expertise for the drill.

A-HSRL—The
Arctic HSRL has moved
out of its testing position in the building’s
penthouse and has begun
operations in the Arctic Circle, near Barrow,
Alaska.

Field Experiments and Meetings

Scanning HIS Experiments, by Robert Knuteson—The Scanning
HIS team recently returned from a successful set of back-to-back
experiments in Europe named ADRIEX (Italy)
and EAQUATE (England).
The experiments were performed September 6 through 18, 2004, using
the Scaled Composites Proteus aircraft. The Scanning HIS team had three
objectives for this deployment: intercompare Scanning HIS upwelling
infrared radiances with those of the NPOESS Atmospheric Sounder Testbed
- Interferometer (NAST-I, to fly on future polar-orbiting weather satellites)
on the same aircraft; intercompare radiances with the UK Meteorology
Office ARIES instrument during wingtip-to-wingtip flights with the
BAE146 aircraft; underfly the NASA “A-train” of satellites
which currently includes both Aqua (temperature and water sounder)
and Aura (atmospheric chemistry). The team successfully overcame numerous
obstacles to accomplish their objectives but with the help of Paolo
Antonelli (formerly of CIMSS, soon to be with the Mediterranean Agency
for Remote Sensing) the language and cultural barrier in Italy was
successfully bridged. In England, repair of a leaky fuel pump caused
some delays with the aircraft but all objectives were eventually accomplished.
A photo of the grueling conditions encountered by participants on a
day trip to Capri is included for your enjoyment.

Presentations at AMS Satellite Conference—CIMSS
and ASPB claim credit for many of the poster presentations and papers
at the 13th American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) Conference
on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography held on September 20-23.
The theme was “Next Generation Environment Sensors and Emerging
Applications in Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography.” The presentations
at the conference focused on advances in the uses of a broad array of
new sensors and innovative plans for the future. Robert Holz, CIMSS graduate
student (Ph.D.), was awarded second place for his poster presentation
on Scanning-HIS data analysis.

MUG-ed—On October 7 and 8, SSEC hosted the 2004
McIDAS User’s Group (MUG)
Meeting. Participants learned how various sites used their McIDAS systems
as well as recent technological advances. Of particular interest were cloud
products developed by NASA’s Langley Research Center to be
used by pilots. The merged
CONUS cloud product shows cloud conditions in a variety of phase
states—icy, water, others across the U.S.—all developed in
McIDAS. MUG meeting attendees also had a chance to hear about plans for
the future, and a panel of McIDAS users played a devilishly difficult
and clever game of GEOpardy. Meeting presentations will be posted on
the MUG Web site.

Weather experts in training—On
September 27 and 28, CIMSS hosted a meeting to critique and continue
the development of
plans for the Satellite Hydrology and Meteorology (SHyMet)
training course. The meeting resulted in a revised plan and a set of
action items.

Science Experts

Contrails—Steve
Ackerman appears with a NASA scientist in a video on contrails, or
condensation trails. Produced by Discoveries and
Breakthroughs
Inside
Science, the piece was aired by local stations
in more than 100 U.S. television markets, possibly reaching 65 million
viewers. The piece shows how contrails become cirrus clouds and trap
Earth’s radiated energy. The piece suggests that changing flight
paths could prevent or at least decrease their buildup. The American
Institute of Physics produces these videos with help from NewsProNet,
the National Science Foundation, and other scientific
societies.

The Weather Guys, by Jennifer A. O’Leary—The
Weather Guys continue their monthly rendezvous with Larry Meiller on
his WHA Radio
call-in show. On September 27, as they have for the past five years,
Professors Steve Ackerman and Jonathan Martin once again explained the
mysteries of the weather to Wisconsin Public Radio listeners.

In light of
this summer’s tropical activity, many callers posed
questions dealing with hurricanes. Ackerman and Martin described what
limits a hurricane’s strength as well as how jet streams “impose
their will” on a hurricane’s path. The Guys also addressed
the accuracy of hurricane forecasting technology. In spite of many advances
allowing earlier, more accurate predications, Ackerman pointed out that “we
can’t forecast the re-intensification of the eye wall.”

After revisiting
summer storms, fall colors became a recurring topic of conversation.
A caller wanted to know why New England foliage seemed
more vibrant than that of Wisconsin. Ackerman and Martin said certain
areas in Wisconsin exhibit more color than others and that a “lack
of trees in other parts of the state … make it look less vibrant.” The
Weather Guys reminded the audience that they aren’t arborists,
but agreed with a caller that perhaps the types of trees in a given area
contribute to the vibrancy of fall colors.

With September
rapidly coming to a close, the show soon turned to a discussion of
winters past and present. Although September has been the
hottest month this year and evidence shows a bit of an El Niño
effect developing, both of the Guys seem to think, or at least hope,
that this winter will bring snow
and cold temperatures.

WPR
archives shows from the past year on their Web site. Tune in to
970AM or listen online for
The Weather Guys on the last Monday of every month from 11:45-12:30.

Weather Research

Spinning Satellite Images—The CIMSS Tropical Cyclone Group recently
produced a new tool to monitor structure and intensity changes in
tropical cyclones. The Morphed anImated Microwave Imagery (MIMI) algorithm
compiles tropical cyclone imagery from five satellite instruments
to create an animation that helps scientists and forecasters see the
timing of the eye-wall replacement cycles. To account for the complex
motion properties of a cyclone, MIMI imposes an advection scheme on
the microwave signal. The scheme, a function of the cyclone’s
radius and reported wind speed, blends the averaged satellite images
while rotating them to create the morphed animation. During Hurricane
Ivan, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) had a chance to try out
the MIMI algorithm. “It really helps to see the evolution of
banding features and how the low-level convergence patterns change,” Stacey
Stewart with NHC said.

Aqua image of Hurricane Ivan from September 12, 2004, one of
the images used to make the morphed animation

A breath of fresh air—On
September 8, CIMSS researchers Tony Wimmers and Scott Bachmeier discussed
the Infusing satellite Data
into Environmental
Applications
(IDEA) project with staff from the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources’s Bureau of
Air Management. They focused on techniques
for interpreting true color MODIS data and on MODIS aerosol products.
They also looked at validating chemical transport models with MODIS
data to improve air quality at protected locations. State air quality
forecasters offered suggestions on how to improve the IDEA Web site
and product suite.

Canada picks up MODIS technology—On September 21, the Canadian Meteorological
Centre (CMC) incorporated the MODIS polar winds product into their
forecast system. The European Center for Medium-Range Forecasts (ECMRF),
NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), and the
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) all use this technology in numerical
weather prediction. The MODIS polar
winds product has had a positive
impact on weather forecasts in both polar and extratropical regions.

Education,
Outreach

The SSEC course “Satellite Meteorology for Grades 7–12” has
been added to the NESDIS Education and Outreach page under Educational
Resources.

In the Wings

Writer Visits—SSEC will host UW–Madison
Writer in Residence Joel Swerdlow for lunch and a tour on November 8. Swerdlow
has written
for National Geographic and leading newspapers around the country and
will be on campus for that week. Room 823 is reserved starting at 11:30
a.m. and all in the Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences building
are invited to join him for a brown-bag lunch. During the week, Swerdlow
will talk to journalism classes and give public lectures.

Also of Note

The Candidates Speak—Even
if did take them months to respond, Kerry and Bush campaign organizations
answered questions
that Science magazine
posed to them. The answers reveal how either administration would treat
certain scientific and research areas, such as space and climate. See
Science, Vol. 306, 1 October 2004. The AIP lists more resources.

A recent Site of the Day (refdesk.com)
is “a ‘Guide
to the Most Efficient Things in the World,’ with
reviews and information on everything from LED lightbulbs, translucent
eco-resins, HVAC, bikes and biodegradable carpets to ceramics, rainwater
harvesting, non-toxic kids’ toys, household electronics, etc.” Isthmus
writer David Medaris provided this useful site.